The balsam or pitch, in extreme emergency, forms a highly concentrated, though
disagreeable, food." (Fernald, Kinsey, and Rollins, 1958). Bark of conifers,
mostly, was so important in the diet of some tribes that at least one tribe,
the Adirondacks, owe their name to the Mohawk term for "tree eaters." Erika
Gaertner devotes a four-page article to the making of breadstuff from the bark
of balsam fir. In contrast to pine bark, the fir bark is a delight to chew in
winter or early spring, slightly mucilaginous and sweetish, better raw than
cooked (Gaertner, 1970). Inner bark that does not show any discoloration can
be used for breadstuff and it takes about an hour to peel enough for one loaf.
Leaves average 0.65% essential oil, ranging to 1.4% or higher. Trunks also
yield oil of "Canada balsam" or turpentine, used as a permanent mounting medium
in microscopy and as a cement for glassware. Canada turpentine yields 1525%
volatile oil, the resin being used for caulking and incense (Erichsen-Brown,
1979). Often used for Christmas trees. Abies species are commercially
valuable for timber even though their wood is relatively soft, weak, and
perishable. Balsam fir is used in the US for timber and plywood, and is the
mainstay of the pulp wood industry in the northeast.

According to Hartwell (19671971), the buds, resin, and/or sap are used in folk
remedies for cancers, corns, and warts. Reported to be anodyne, antiseptic,
diaphoretic, diuretic, masticatory, and vulnerary, balsam fir is a folk remedy
for bronchitis, burns, cancer, catarrh, cold, consumption, cough, dysentery,
earache, gleet, gonorrhea, heart ailments, leucorrhea, paralysis, rheumatism,
scurvy, sores, ulcers, urogenital ailments, warts, and wounds (Duke and Wain,
1981; Erichsen-Brown, 1979). Chippewa used the gum as an analgetic, the root
decoction as an antirheumatic. Kwakiutl used the gum as a laxative and held
the root in the mouth to cure sores there. Menominee used the gum for colds,
cuts, lungs, and sores, the inner bark for chest pains, colds, and skin.
Montagnai applied the gum for chest or heart pain. Ojibwa use the gum for
colds, sores, sore eyes, and venereal diseases; the leaves as stimulant;
Penobscot used the gum for cuts and sores; Pillagers used the needles in sweat
baths and fumitories. Potawatomi used the gum for colds and sores, the bark
infusion for consumption and other ailments. Caughnawaga used the gum as a
cataplasm for cancer (Duke, 1983c).

Reducing sugars are said to account for 47% of the DM of balsam fir bark. The
leaf oil contains 17.6% bornyl acetate and probably 1-a-pinene, Canada
balsam contains ca 20% 1-b-phellandrene and smaller quantities of a- and
b-pinene bornyl acetate, and the alcohols androl and bupleurol (Guenther,
1948-1952). Oils are also reported to contain juvabione and dehydrojuvabione
(List and Horhammer, 19691979). The term Canada Balsam is a misnomer because
balsams are supposed to contain benzoic and cinnamic acids, both absent from
the Canada oleoresin. "Turpentine" is also a misnomer, implying that the
oleoresin is entirely steam volatile. Actually it contains 7080% resin, only
16-20% voaltile oil (Anderson, 1955). One analysis of the essential oils
reports 14.6% bornyl acetate, 36.1% b-pinene, 11.1% 3-carene, 11.1%
limonene, 6.8% camphene, and 8.4% a-pinene (Erichsen-Brown, 1979).

Labrador and Newfoundland south to New York and Pennsylvania, west to
central-Wisconsin and Minnesota, north and west to Alberta; generally south of
55°N latitude, except in Alberta and Saskatchewan (Ag. Handbook 450,
1974).

Estimated to range from Cool Temperate Moist to Wet through Boreal Moist to Wet
Forest Life Zones, balsam fir is estimated to tolerate annual precipitation of
6 to 15 dm, annual temperature of 5 to 12°C, and pH of 4.5 to 7.5. Female
strobili may be wholly or partially aborted up to 6 to 8 weeks after bud burst
by late spring frosts. Pollen dispersal can be reduced by adverse weather (Ag.
Handbook No. 450)

Flowering in May, fruiting August-September; seeds are dispersed in late
September. Extensive data on seed vitality etc. are reported in Agriculture
Handbook No. 450. Seeds should be moist stratified 1428 days at 15°C.
Seed may be sown in autumn without stratification, with target seedling
densities in the nursery ca 450500/m2, often mulched with sawdust. Of slow
initial growth, the stock is usually outplanted as 2- to 3-year-old seedlings
or 3- to 4-year-old transplants (Ag. Handbook 450, 1974).

"Turpentine" is usually collected July-August by breaking the turpentine
blisters into small metal cans with sharp-pointed lids. Trees are then allowed
to recuperate 12 years. For the leaf oil, it would appear that branches
should be snipped off younger trees in early spring (January-March).

Fifteen year old trees yield 70% more leaf oil than 110-year-old trees; oil
yields are highest in JanuaryMarch and September, lowest from April to August.
Around 1800, one author reported averaging nearly a ton of balsam at "6 pence a
lb." (Erichsen-Brown, 1979).

According to the phytomass files (Duke, 1981b), annual productivity ranges from
9 to 13 MT/ha, standing biomass from 77200 MT/ha. Gaertner cites references
dealing with the potential use of bark for fuel, as charcoal or briquets.